News & Knowledge

Mississippi Photography Contest

Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP is proud to celebrate three decades in Downtown Jackson, and we are even prouder to reaffirm our commitment to Mississippi's capital city by revitalizing and transforming the top three floors of the Regions Building, the tallest building in Downtown Jackson.  We are driven by the new energy and businesses that are coming here.  Now it's your turn to add to the creative energy, and we want you to bring your passion and submit your original works to the Forman Watkins & Krutz Photography Contest. Photograph entries from around Mississippi are welcome and will be eligible to win first, second, and third place prizes in both the Amateur and Professional categories.  To learn more about our firm, please visit our website.

Divisions

1. Amateur: Open to applicants ages 13 years and older who have no formal training or experience as photographers and who do not regularly sell their photographs
2. Advanced: Open to photographers with formal photography training, photography experience, and/or those who use advanced or complex camera and lens systems to capture images.  If you sell or show your photographs, please place yourself in this category.

*We ask entrants to self-categorize for the two divisions listed above; however, Forman Watkins & Krutz reserves the right to disqualify or re-categorize any entrant

How to Enter

1. Pay $5 entry fee to PayPal (paypal.me/formanwatkins) by Monday, June 12, 2017. *MUST include First and Last name in comments.  All proceeds from entry fees will be donated to the Mississippi Museum of Art.
2. Submit up to five (5) original photos, but at least one photo for each participant must be black and white; submit your entries via email to holland@formanwatkins.com using your favorite file/photo sharing tool (DropBox, Google Photos, Amazon Prime Photos, etc.) Deadline for photo submission: no later than June 12, 2017, at 11:59PM CST.
3. All entries must meet minimum requirements listed below in the "Rules" section. Payment and photo submissions are both due by June 12, 2017.

Criteria

Originality: Mississippi is a state where originality shines, in everything from books to film to architecture to music to photography.  Take this opportunity to make your mark by contributing a new chapter to our state’s story through adding a new angle on the old or a unique perspective on the new. Please note the grand prize selection will be a photograph featuring Downtown Jackson but first, second, and third place winners in both divisions can be entries from around the state of Mississippi.

Technical Excellence: Our judges will evaluate your use of lighting, focus, exposure, and overall composition to determine how those elements contribute to creating a powerful and innovative narrative.

Overall Impact: There are lots of stories to be told in our state, and photography gives you the opportunity to capture a moment and spin a tale with the click of a shutter.  Whether with texture, color, perspective, with a smile or a wave or the swish of a tail, this criterion evaluates the overall experience of your photograph.

Prizes

Grand Prize Downtown Jackson $500 Winner: will be selected from across both divisions, and will be awarded to the top photograph taken in and around Downtown Jackson.  This winner will also be announced in local newspapers and will be shown at FWK’s new office in Downtown Jackson.

In addition to the Grand Prize, winners will be announced in local newspapers, photography framed in our new office, and receive cash prizes.  All entries outside featuring photography from around Mississippi will be entered for the following cash prizes for both divisions:

1st place:   $400.00

2nd place: $200.00

3rd place: $100.00

Participation Rules:

• Closing Date: Monday, June 12, 2017. All entries & payment must be submitted no later than Monday, June 12, 2017, at 11:59PM CST.
• All questions and inquiries should be sent via email only to: holland@formanwatkins.com
• Forman Watkins & Krutz employees and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate in the contest
• Photos must be taken in Mississippi and Grand Prize Downtown winner must feature Downtown Jackson photography
• You may crop, rotate, resize, sharpen, convert to black and white, adjust white balance, apply color corrections and adjust light/exposure levels, but you are not allowed to manipulate the photo in other ways, such as by adding or removing objects.
• Photographs that include sculptures, statues, paintings, and other works of art will be accepted as long as they do not constitute copyright infringement or fraud; provided entrants must be prepared to provide a release form as described below in "Release." When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person's art.
• The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph.
• Image Pixels: Minimum of 2500 in at least one direction
• Image Resolution: 300 dpi
• Maximum File Size: 20 Megabytes (MB)
• Image Format: JPEG or TIFF
• Image Name: lastname.photo#(1,2,3,4,5).jpg
• By submitting an entry, each entrant irrevocably and unconditionally grants to Forman Watkins & Krutz and its successors and assigns the right (but not the obligation) to use entrant’s submitted photograph(s) in whole or in part, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the photograph(s) (along with a name credit or other identifying information) in connection with the contest and the marketing, advertising and promotion of the same. Forman Watkins & Krutz asks that you self-categorize for this contest between "Amateur" and "Advanced," however we reserve the right to disqualify any participant if it is made known that the applicant does in fact sell their photography for profit.